Must-see attractions in La Latina & Lavapiés

  • Basílica de San Francisco El Grande. The Royal Cathedral of St. Francis the Great (Real Basílica de San Francisco el Grande), XVIII century. @Valery Rokhin/Shutterstock

    Basílica de San Francisco El Grande

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    Crowning Madrid’s oldest neighborhood of La Latina is an architectural and visual masterpiece that is the Basílica de San Francisco el Grande (Basilica of…

  • Traditional market in Madrid during a sunny day with many people shopping, Rastro de Madrid

    El Rastro

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    A Sunday morning at El Rastro flea market, Europe's largest, is a Madrid institution. You could easily spend the entire morning inching your way down the…

  • Locals and tourists walk though a modern bridge over the Manzanares River in the public park of Madrid Río in Madrid, Spain, with the Matadero building (a former slaughterhouse converted to an arts centre) in the background.

    Matadero Madrid

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    This contemporary-arts centre is a stunning multipurpose space south of the centre. Occupying the converted buildings of the old Arganzuela livestock…

  • Restaurant tables in Plaza de la Paja, Madrid, Spain.

    Plaza de la Paja

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    Around the back of the Iglesia de San Andrés, the delightful Plaza de la Paja slopes down into the tangle of lanes that once made up Madrid's Muslim…

  • Museo de San Isidro

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    This engaging museum occupies the spot where San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid, ended his days around 1172. A particular highlight is the large…

  • La Morería

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    The area stretching northwest from Iglesia de San Andrés to the viaduct was the heart of the morería (Moorish Quarter). Strain the imagination a little…

  • Capilla del Obispo

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    The Capilla del Obispo is a hugely important site on the historical map of Madrid. It was here that San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid, was first…

  • Viaduct & Calle de Segovia

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    High above Calle de Segovia, Madrid's viaduct, which connects La Morería with the cathedral and royal palace, was built in the 19th century and replaced…

  • Iglesia de San Pedro El Viejo

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    This fine old church is one of the few remaining windows on post-Muslim Madrid, most notably its clearly Mudéjar (a Moorish architectural style) brick…

  • Plaza de Lavapiés

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    The triangular Plaza de Lavapiés is one of the few open spaces in Lavapiés and is a magnet for all that’s good (a thriving cultural life) and bad (drugs…

  • Jardines de Las Vistillas

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    West across Calle de Bailén from La Morería are the terrazas (open-air cafes) of Jardines de Las Vistillas, which offer one of the best vantage points in…

  • Iglesia de San Andrés

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    This proud church is more imposing than beautiful. Stern, dark columns with gold-leaf capitals against the rear wall lead your eyes up into the dome – all…

  • Instituto de San Isidro

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    Next door to the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Buen Consejo, the Instituto de San Isidro once went by the name of Colegio Imperial and, from the 16th…

  • La Casa Encendida

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    This cultural centre is utterly unpredictable, if only because of the quantity and scope of its activities – everything from exhibitions to cinema…

  • La Corrala

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    One building that catches the community spirit of the lively Lavapiés is La Corrala, an example of an intriguing traditional (if much tidied up) tenement…

  • Jardín del Príncipe Anglona

    La Latina & Lavapiés

    Down the bottom (at the northern side) of the Plaza de la Paja is the walled 18th-century Jardín del Príncipe Anglona. It's a peaceful garden.

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